Women’s Player of the Year: Angelique Kerber Kerber’s award is built upon two tent poles, namely her Australian and US Open titles. Yet, her Wimbledon runner-up finish and silver medal in Rio demonstrated Kerber’s capacity to sting together multiple quality results. That is a key for being number one. Her Cincinnati and Tour Championship runner-up…
Tag: Tennis History
The Impact of 2016 on Hall of Fame Candidacies
Already In Entering 2016 Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova entered 2016 with the status that only something devastating could prevent their eventual enshrinement. Novak’s Nole Slam & Masters 1000 hauls, Serena’s 22nd major, Rafa’s gold medal in doubles, and Venus’ silver medal in mixed doubles all added…
5 Closest Calls for Australian Men at the Australian Open since 1976
Not Everything has been Rosy in the Land of Oz, but a Few Men have Come Close Mats Wilander d. Pat Cash 1988 Final Round: 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6 Near miss Stefan Edberg d. Pat Cash 1987 Final Round: 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 Cash had momentum, but Edberg pulled away in the 5th…
Thomas Muster: What Was and What Might Have Been
I am not sure anyone can overstate what Muster did to come back from his injuries in early 1989. An automobile accident in Miami nearly cost Muster his life. In 1989, Muster reached the Australian Open semifinal round losing to Ivan Lendl and had reached the championship round at Masters Miami hours before being injured…
Andy Murray’s Winning Streak Leads Him to the #1 Ranking for 2016
Andy Murray won every match he played after his US Open loss to Kei Nishikori. This streak included winning the World Tour Finals with an undefeated round robin record, two Masters 1000 events, and two ATP 500 level events. This amounted to 4500 ranking points and enough leverage to overtake Novak Djokovic who finished 2011,…
Czech Dynasty in Federation Cup
Pliskova dug deeeeep Despite Caroline Garcia’s warrior performance on the part of France, the Czech Republic just claimed its 5th Federation Cup title in a 6 year period! That is remarkable even if I am not the first voice to push Federation and Davis Cup results in this era of incredibly globalized tennis. These 5…
Tennis History: Andy Murray is the 26th Man to be Ranked #1 since 1973
Andy #Murray is World No.1 #HistoryMaker pic.twitter.com/bi8LqjjdrY — British Tennis (@BritishTennis) November 5, 2016 I will write more about the tug-of-war between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray over the #1 ranking after the Paris Indoor ends. I do think it is amazing that only 26 men have had this distinction in a period the encompasses…
Bercy 2016: Semifinal Predictions – Does Andy Reach Number One?
#Djokovic #Murray #Wawrinka #Raonic #Nishikori #Monfils #Cilic #Thiem: The field is set for 2016 #ATPFinals! More: https://t.co/EDva0lSGZS pic.twitter.com/Y8IfOIN011 — ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) November 4, 2016 We’re not quite to London but the field is set Predicted Winners in BOLD [9] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. John Isner (USA) H2H – Marin can set-up a Cincinnati rematch with…
Angelique Kerber’s Stellar 2016 Emerged from Steady Play
Angelique Kerber is the number one player in women’s tennis and will finish 2016 as number one. It will be interesting to see if she can win the WTA Championships to cap off her great season, but she has had the best season in 2016. Here is a non-sequential look at Kerber’s 2016 season not…
Grand Slam Winning Points Part 2
Connors’ 8 Wilander’s 7 Becker’s 6
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 